BURNT- An aesthetic mess

Cast- Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller and Daniel Brühl

Plot- Adam Jones' (Bradley Cooper) journey to reclaim his status as a top chef and get that mouth watering third Michelin star.

Story behind the movie- If you watch the movie you'll notice a very close resemblance between Adam Jones and Gordon Ramsay. That's because Bradley Cooper spent some time with Gordon Ramsay to learn the body language of a chef. Fair to say he's done a decent job.

Filming- The filming was initially done in New Orleans, Louisiana. The production was then moved to London where the rest of the movie was filmed.

Cuts- 'Fifty Shades of Grey' starrer Jamie Dornon was initially a part of this movie and was supposed to be an integral part of Helene's (Sienna Miller) backstory. His role in the movie was entirely scrapped to allow the focus to be Adam Jones' culinary renaissance.

Acting- Bradley Cooper is a hell of an actor. He portrays the posture and behaviour of a real chef in an otherwise lazy movie which doesn't feel real. Even his french seems authentic. He's the silver lining in a messy concoction of genres. Sienna Miller's acting is really good but I never felt convinced enough that she was portraying a chef. Daniel Brühl did a good acting job too but unfortunately I'll still have better memories of him from Rush.

My take: It's confusing. The sole focus of the movie is supposed to be Adam Jones' comeback in the culinary world after overcoming his addiction to alcohol and drugs yet the producers have deemed it acceptable to include romantic engagements between Adam Jones and Helene. Not only does it form a massive distraction for the audience from the main purpose of the plot, it also makes little sense. For someone like Adam Jones, who already has two Michelin stars to his name, it's a very risky affair to engage in romantic business with someone who works for him. I don't think any chef with any amount of Michelin stars would ever put their hard earned reputation in jeopardy in exchange for sloppy kisses here and there. Then again, Adam Jones recovers from his drug addiction and receives a whole restaurant named after him immediately. It all feels artificial. Nothing about this movie feels like a real chef's struggles after experiencing and overcoming something like drug addiction. For a man who was addicted to "crack", Adam Jones manages to pull off looks most of us dream about. If addiction to crack left you looking like a 35 year old handsome hunk with chiseled abs, I think way more people would've been using it. To be honest, this was a disappointment. The actors were the saving grace of this film.

Conclusion: If you like aesthetic food this movie is for you. There's a lot of good looking food. Good looking people too. I wouldn't recommend this movie if you're looking for an authentic chef experience because this movie is fictional. It feels fictional too. Watch this movie for the actors and you'll be pleased. Don't watch this movie for the plot because you'll be very disappointed.

Rating- 2.5/5.0

-Atharva Thatte